How far would you go to follow your favorite author — especially if you suspected he might also be your father? In Julie Buntin’s Famous Men, aspiring writer Wilhelmina “Will” Miles flees small-town Michigan for New York City to find out.
But don’t assume this is Maury in book form: Will quickly learns Nathaniel Fellow is not her father — and the two enter into something far more complicated. Or, as Will calls it, “an arrangement” in which the 62-year-old offers mentorship, proximity to power, and financial security to the 23-year-old. That is, as long as she does pretty much anything he asks, a cost that Will is forced to reckon with when disturbing information about Nathaniel’s past inevitably surfaces. We asked Buntin a few questions. Here’s what she had to say…
Q: What’s the one place everyone needs to visit?
Buntin: I hate saying this because it’s already become impossible to visit in the summer, but the beach in Empire, Michigan — near Sleeping Bear Dunes — is the best place on Earth in July and August.
Q: What’s one thing you’re an armchair expert on?
Buntin: I know a lot about yogurt. It was an intense pregnancy craving for me. The best I’ve ever had is by The White Moustache, which, horribly, isn’t distributed in Michigan, where I live. Perfectly tart with just the right fat content — it’s ideal. And their date version might be my actual favorite food?
Q: What’s a hill you’d die on?
Buntin: I don’t think new moms should feel obligated to write thank-you notes, and I don’t think people should expect them from anyone who just had a baby. If you’re sending food or a gift, and you’re wondering if they got it — they did. New moms need to do less.
Q: What’s one thing everyone needs to watch?
Buntin: The first season of The Terror. It aired on AMC in 2018. Based on Dan Simmons’s fictionalization of a real voyage, it tells the story of Sir John Franklin’s doomed expedition in search of the Northwest Passage — scary, beautiful, and the supernatural elements are wound in perfectly.
Q: What’s the last thing you read that you can’t stop thinking about?
Buntin: Loved and Missed by Susie Boyt. It’s about a woman whose daughter struggles with addiction, and what happens when she takes in her granddaughter. It’s very short — a read-in-one-sitting kind of book — but packs a bigger emotional punch than novels four times its length. A perfect book in every respect, but especially revelatory for how it charts mother-daughter relationships and the small joys of raising a child.
Q: What's your favorite unapologetic indulgence?
Buntin: A long restaurant meal with friends where we order way too much — three pastas for two women, that sort of thing.
Q: What’s a corner of the internet you recently discovered?
Buntin: This is going to sound very funny because it’s been around forever, but I didn’t start reading Reddit until I had kids. Now I’m fascinated by Reddit and spend too much time in a few particular subs, mostly parenting-related.
Meanwhile, on the internet…
Newly minted New Yorkers have a tell — see if they drop this little word when talking about certain neighborhoods.
FIFA athletes and Love Island stars have one thing in common: this wellness trend. If it works for them…
Can you think your way to being hot? Some women swear by it — and there’s a whole industry cashing in.